Thursday, November 7, 2013

How to Measure Ingredients for Baking (Video)

How much does a cup of all-purpose flour weigh?
There is no agreement in the US on the amount of all-purpose flour that should be in 1 cup. Some bakers say that their cup is 4.5 oz. That's the bakers that spoon flour into a cup and then level. Some say that their cup is 5 oz. That's the bakers who scoop and then level. It seems that that are more 5 oz people than 4.5 oz people, so when in doubt, I assume 1 cup of all-purpose flour weighs 5 oz or 142 grams.

Does 1 cup of any ingredient equal 5 oz?
No. Just like a cup of rocks and a cup of features will have different weights, so will different ingredients. Even 1 cup of different flour types will have different weights. Cake flour, for example, weighs about 4 oz per cup.

What's the difference between "1 cup of sifted flour" and "1 cup of flour, sifted"?
It's confusing, isn't it. The only reliable way to avoid compression problems when measuring flour with cups is to sift it into the cup and then level. Since the exact amount of flour is so important in fine cake recipes, and since the flour would need to be sifted anyway, recipes often called for "1 cup of sifted cake flour" (which should equal 3.5 oz). If you have a scale, you can weigh 3.5 oz and then sift the flour. If your recipe calls for "1 cup of cake flour, sifted" they expect you take 4 oz of flour, and then sift it. Generally, if you sift flour into the cup and then level it, you'll get less flour than if you scoop (or spoon), level, and then sift. If this explanation makes your head hurt, you are not alone. Luckily, "4 oz of flour, sifted" is not ambiguous.